Review: Elephant Room

Louie Magic pulls off a daring stunt by wearing
socks with shorts (© Scott Suchman)

I never thought I'd find a show that could make me love all the self-conscious, awkward smarm of the 1980's, but (as if by magic!) Elephant Room has done just that. Set in a turquoise, shag-carpeted New Jersey basement, Elephant Room showcases the absurdist humor of these three semi-pro conjurers.

(L to R) Dennis Diamond, Louie Magic and Daryl Hannah(© Scott Suchman)

If there's one thing Elephant Room has down perfectly, it's timing. The cast knows just how long to revel in the uncomfortable silence before moving on to the next trick.


The lights come up, and the curtain rises on… an identical curtain on a smaller, raised stage. [Insert "yo dawg" meme here.] The nozzle of a smoke machine is thrust out under the edge and begins spewing white mist. The lights dim again as the troupe hurriedly rushes out to "magically" appear out of the haze when the lights brighten for the official beginning.


The opening sets the tone for what would be a comedy of errors, except that the bumbling is overshadowed by the cast's obvious competence as magicians. Just as I'd settled in to the idea that this was a play about magicians rather than a play by magicians, this happened:

(L to R) Louie Magic, Dennis Diamond and Daryl Hannah (© Scott Suchman)

Beyond the levitation and rapid-fire, three-at-a-time slight of hand tricks, the show includes a healthy dose of audience participation. Audience members have their minds read, are disappeared on stage, and fed magical omelets.


Caution: the first three rows may be stepped over, glitter bombed, or covered in paper streamers.

Dennis Diamond in Elephant Room (© Scott Suchman)

You know how you can judge a really good party by the red solo cups and general debris? By collegiate standards, this show is epic. The stage was littered not only with the aforementioned glitter and streamers, but also egg, a whiskey-colored fluid, fake snow, carrot stubs, and other odds and ends. And, like a truly epic party, trying to describe the antics afterwards never does the event justice.


So often, I list events like this in my "This Week in Geek" post, and they sit ignored at the top of the calendar. Don't let this one slip below the radar. To quote a very old xkcd, "Honor Monty Python: Promote surreal humor."


With that in mind, go see Elephant Room. Do it for every child who learned magic in the dark, "yucky feeling" back room of a toy store. For the love of every joyous moment of mullet-y goodness, go see this show. Besides, I only have one word for Daryl Hannah: Rwar.

Daryl Hannah (© Scott Suchman)

Review: Clown Cabaret

via Clown Cabaret

So some quick stuff.  Clown Cabaret is a wonderful experiment organized by three veterans of the field, Karen Beriss, Matthew Pauli, and Rich Potter.  Clown Cabaret was started due to the lack of any regular clowning variety acts in the DC area. I've tried to describe what it was like to friends of mine and I tend to get... just about the same response, expectation of tales of circus clowning, you know, colorful clothing and rainbow wigs.  Now, there's nothing wrong with circus clowns, I respect that art as well, but that's not what I feel this show is. This show is, at it's essence, half clown, half comedy, and half variety show. The cast that comes out each month changes with the wind, so expect something different each time you make it.

I really appreciated the 20's gangster performance.  It centered around a clown with over accentuated stereotypical body language, sort of Untouchables style.  Anyhow, this character came out on the stage and immediately owned the crowd.   I loved when, at some point, he goes to creak his neck, with a loud sound, then a crinkled water bottle falls from within his suit.That combined with the facial expression of semi horror and shock when it happened, obviously intentional, but came off very genuine.

via Clown Cabaret

The entire show ended with a dog comedy performance. I... I'm not really sure how to describe this really.  Very similar to a normal dog show.  Dogs were very cute(did I say that), very well trained, the performance was creative.  Now imagine the dogs that are in the show are mischievous.  Always sabotaging the show in little ways behind the performers back.  I'm not sure how you train dogs to just mess things up in seemingly unintentional ways.  But wow, it worked.  I honestly think I would have watched a full show of just this. The 3 stooges of dogs.

I get the feeling that clowning by it's very nature is strange.  We here at DC Geeks love the strange.  It sleeps in our bed with us.  We get it coffee and donuts in the morning. You know, real first name basis. Strange fits this style of show pretty well.  It makes me wish that clowning shows were more common in the DC area.  I'm always glad to see people who are obviously passionate about what they do, well, doing what they love.

via Clown Cabaret

They invited the lot of us to a diner across the street afterwards.  Sitting down and talking to them about the show immediately afterwards was awesome.  I don't know if they do that every time or just because the group of us were that awesome. Being able to talk to an artist about their art is always a lot of fun.  It was a very good way to end a good night.  If you make it out to this in the future, stick around for this part.  Well worth it.

Clown Cabaret is the second Monday each month at Fort Fringe (607 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC) in DC at 8 PM.  Show's just $10, which is a steal.

Captain Freedom and the Capital Fringe Festival

(images from the awesome people at capfringe.org)

The Capital Fringe Festival is a pretty cool idea. The event, which has run since 2006, focuses on serving up a selection of contemporary performing arts and music acts with a heavy focus on artistic freedom, low ticket prices, and original material. Fort Fringe, the epicenter of this annual performing arts festival, squats quietly on a side street merely two blocks away from the Mt Vernon Square/ 7th Street Convention Center Metro station, within spitting distance of K Street and all the associated money that involves.

Some forewarning for those inclined to make an evening out of a Capital Fringe show: Most of the dining options in the area are not cheap. Most restaurants nearby cater to the three-martini lunch crowd inhabiting the nearby offices. However, the folks running the festival have done attendees the favor of hosting a pleasant little tent bar in a parking lot near Fort Fringe with cheap and serviceable food and drinks – a good choice for those less inclined to spend $50 a head on dinner before a show. Comers may avail themselves of three-dollar cans of Stella Artois at their own risk.

The venue for the show I attended, the Redrum, is pretty much a typical shared art space. It is arty and spacious. Features include a slightly raised platform for your stagey needs, chairs for your sitting convenience, and not much else. Festival performances tend to be minimalist in design. The play itself was put on by a skeleton crew of six players (audio and lighting guru included), and contained all the heart and love you would imagine from true believers in the idea of live theatre.

Captain Freedom is a biographical journey through the life and times of its titular protagonist – a professional superhero more concerned with the celebrity and wealth that a heroing career can bring than petty morality. Those familiar with the movie The Specials will quickly understand the play's approach towards superheroes as beings that are not just super-powerful, but super-flawed. Our fearless Captain highlights the hitches, bumps, finagling, and dirty deals that made him the hero he was.

The show manages to be highly topical with plenty quips on politics, references to current events, and the usual old saws about inside-the-beltway life that seem to be sure-fire crowd-pleasers. Yes, some of the jokes are old hat, but overall, the performance was thoughtful and entertaining, and boasted a plethora of special touches that made the night a memorable experience for magnanimous humor lovers as well as nasty-minded cynics like myself.

The Capital Fringe Festival will continue to host performances until this coming Sunday. Captain Freedom's last festival performance will be on Friday, July 22 at 10:45PM. Kindly visit the festival website for information on shows and tickets.

Review: Picasso Exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

I'm not joking when I state that I'm not the world's biggest Picasso fan.  Cubist art is not on my list of top 10 favorite art movements.  But Picasso, he's a big name, he's done some fantastic things and I may not get a change to see a collection like this again anytime soon.  So, why not.

I was very surprised by the variety of work they had on display.  It's not often I get a chance to see a decent collection of sketches and a general brain dump of a famous artist.  Those especially made me happy that I made it out.  It was like seeing into the mind of a crazy person... who happened to be an artist.  Alright, so my favorite piece was a depiction of World War II (and war in general) that looked like a cyberpunk / steampunk assault squad subjugating a defenseless village.  Really the depiction fits in so closely it's amazing.

The exhibit was alright for me, you would have loved it if you are into Picasso and / or Cubism. The rest of the museum had some fantastic pieces that I was really into.

The geek factor really comes in a lot harder with the other exhibits on display.  I know there are a lot of art geeks out there, so Picasso really gives you good nerd vibrations.  Other than that,  a lot of the other pieces had either sci fi / fantasy feel to them or what they were doing to create it is so... well flat out bizarre that the whole piece becomes fantastic.

I couldn't take pictures of any of the Picasso pieces, but here are some from the other pieces from the same museum.

Robert Morris's  The Astronomer

Look at the depth on this one!  that's ridiculous!  This piece made me Full Stop when I walked in the room.  So amazing.

David Schnell's Tor.  Reminds me of a video game world or Virtual World (matrix?) in mid load.

Fred Tomaselli's Woodpecker

The most amazing part of this is that the individual pieces of this woodpecker are composed of a bunch of smaller versions of that item.  SOOO the beak is made of a bunch of small beaks, the eyes, a bunch of eyes... so on.  Really the detail here is crazy.

Yukinori Yanagi's Dollar Pyramid

Wow.  So this piece is a giant dollar bill, made of sand, then split up to make a pyramid.  AND THEN he let a shit ton of ants run buckwild through the piece, that is connected by a series of tubes (yes, just like the internet).  The whole thing is bound in place afterwards to be displayed.  The concept is one of my favorites that I've seen in years.

The museum was pretty fantastic.  Although really far for most of you.  If you end up an hour or two south of here in Richmond.  Check it out.

Review: Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind

Chloe, Eliza, and Mary - Frame

Holy shit. I was truly floored by this 'play'.

First off, the format.  30 plays in 60 minutes.  They have a timer.  There's a lot of audience participation, so if somehow the whole experience goes over an hour, too bad, you just don't get to see whatever plays were left over.  The numbers 1 - 30 strewn across draw string, held up with clothing pins.  Each number has the name of a different play on the back.  At the end of each mini play the audience shouts out numbers, the first number they hear, one of the actors will jump up and pull that one down, then suddenly the whole group is performing that play.  Each night they retire a number of plays equal to the roll of a d6.

The individual plays were hilarious, absurd, sometimes offensive, and sometimes amazingly thoughtful.  Each actor brought a different energy to the stage and in combination they played off each other amazingly well.

Jay and Mary - Dadaism

The real geek factor may not be immediately obvious.  The number of inside jokes, intelligent humor, and sometimes references to internet cultural phenomenons really strikes home with the geek sentiment.  Trust me, this play was just as geeky as any series of inside jokes you've shared with your friends over a game of D&D.

All in all the cast (The NEO-FUTURISTS) did a fantastic job. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys plays, bizarre things, and laughing so hard you get a head ache and wonder why you were dumb enough to stuff yourself with bbq and soda immediately before (don't look at me like that).

Check out the Woolly Mammoth Theatre as well.  They have a lot of bizarre and fantastic things in their line up.  Not all geek related, but enough that are just plane strange that you'll probably find something you like.  I'm considering seeing this play again by the way.  If they have to ditch 1d6 shows a night, I figure if I wait a few weeks it will be an entirely different set of plays.